


Of Broken Hearts and Shattered Memories

by Calla_Kay



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Affairs, Cheating, F/M, Gilbert messed up, Human AU, You know why I wrote this, prucan, you know who you are
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-06
Updated: 2018-12-06
Packaged: 2019-09-12 21:41:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16879710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Calla_Kay/pseuds/Calla_Kay
Summary: Gilbert had it all. A beautiful wife and child and a blog where he could show it all off. But after a weekend in Moscow, it is the fall of his digital Empire.





	Of Broken Hearts and Shattered Memories

“Maddie....listen to me...” Gilbert stands in the the bedroom of the small Berlin apartment he shared with his wife, the small blond shoving clothing into suitcases and bags after folding them all neatly. “Listen to what, Gilbert?” Another dress is pushed into a roll and stacked away before Madeline turns to the albino. “Listen to how you thought broadcasting to the world how you refused to come to France and visit my family, but fell into bed with that woman you used to play around with? Or is it the fact that when she threatened to spill it all you turn around and put it on your BLOG?” He looks away in shame as she passes him to grab some shoes from her side of their closet, pushing a pair of boots to his chest when he tries to get close. “Don’t you dare try to touch me, Gilbert.” Livid lavender eyes glare up at the man from behind gold rimmed glasses.    
  
  
  “You think that you can hold me close and apologize and that this will all go away?” Madeline pushes lightly and moves to put the boots on her feet before gathering more from the closet to pack. “Ja, I messed up. I am sorry and I know that won’t fix it, but I am trying to. Madeline.” He reaches out to try and take her wrist, the Canadian pulling it back and frowning. “Fix it? You told Amy about the affair before you told me! I am your  _ WIFE  _ and you told my sister. My  _ SISTER! _ ” The man cringes, rubbing the back of his neck as he mutters about her being a friend since before they got married and Maddie slams the hard lid of the suitcase shut and zips it. “Oui, and I know you would have married her first if Arthur hadn’t gotten to her first. Don’t give me that look, I am not  naïve, Gilbert. I have seen how you look at her and how she and so many other women look at you. I turned the other way because I didn’t want to restrict you when you go out with Mathias or Antonio...Mon Dieu I should have listened to Papa when he said you wouldn’t be able to settle into a quiet life. I loved you and I thought that would be enough for the both of us.”   
  
  
 The words about her Father make him defensive, squaring his shoulders just a bit more. “Hey....I just said I want to work this out. Madeline...please. We can get through this. Don’t leave.” He stands in the doorway as she starts to go through the personal items in a box she pulls from the bottom of the closet. “Are you even aware of what you have done to me? To Julchen? Teenagers are cruel and I can only imagine what else was said that our daughter doesn’t want to talk to me about. She came home crying yesterday because another student read online that you went behind us and slept around rather than coming skiing with your family. About how she wasn’t enough and how  _ I  _ wasn’t a good enough wife to keep you interested.” She pulls out an old packet of photos and pauses as the tears well up in her eyes.  Gilbert was at a loss for words, not able to deny what he had posted. He couldn’t deny the affair or the way he had given in to the Russian and kept it going for months. He is getting deeper and deeper into his own thoughts to where he almost didn’t hear Madeline’s next words.    
  
  
“You can explain it all to her.”    
  
  
Her soft voice is scarier to the East German than her loud accusations, Gilbert getting nervous as he steps closer to see what she was holding only for her to hold her hand up to stop him. “You can explain how we went from a happy couple, so eager to prove to the world how we can meet from opposite sides of the globe and fall in love for the long run.” She shows him a photo of their first in person meeting, the two fresh out of University and his arm about her proudly in the Toronto Airport. “You can tell our child how I gave up a full career in an industry I love to follow you here where I had to learn the language and social cues and culture all because I could tell that you loved me too.” Three more photos put down, showing a younger Gilbert helping her clean an apartment, their first trip to the Swiss Alps and then the Weekend they spent in Copenhagen with his friend. As red eyes look over the memories the guilt of his actions starts to pile on, the chatting with his old high school flame had gotten to him. Madeline had been a good wife, always supportive of him even on impractical things. One weekend in Moscow was all it took for that empire to come down...   
  
  
“I saved each and every photo we took together. I look at them now and I wonder if I knew you at all.” Gilbert looks to his socked feet in shame as the woman runs her fingers over the older photos, longing to be in those times again. “Do you know the weight of doubting fifteen years of love? Ten years of a marriage and a thirteen year old daughter I adore...but do I know the man who started this dream with me?” She looks at the photos in her hand, wishing so badly she could smile like the bride in the photographs. “But then something changed. You changed.” Her tone changes from soft and sad to angry and stronger, Gilbert refusing to look up at her all too true accusations. “You started to want so much more than just being happy that you could write the blog and then Vlog the time with the family and earn money to support us with it. You could see the next thrill and that was all you could chase, leaving Julchen and I back here in this small apartment as we supported you in those dreams.” Gathering up the photos on the bed once more before she walks to the open window that let the spring night air in, Gilbert’s attention now on her in curiosity that was somehow stronger than his guilt. Sitting on the small sill and looking at the memories once more before tossing them right outside into the uninhabited pond behind the building, some of the landing on the grass between   
  
  
“HEY! Madeline! Don’t do this...” She looks to him and Glares, showing him the photos from their engagement and the baby shower before they actually got married. “Oh, these matter to you now?” She tosses seven more photos out the window as she hums.”These photos do not belong to you.” Her voice cold and dangerous in a way that makes him freeze in place. “They belong to me and the man who vowed to love me and only me for as long as we live.” She finally shows him the photos of their wedding, the two of them kissing at the altar and when they held their small daughter and danced their first dance. “The moment you posted that essay admitting to an affair no one accused you of, you lost the rights to all of this. You lost the right to call yourself a good man. You no longer get to think of yourself as an awesome Father.” She throws multiple photos out at once till the stack in her hand is gone and she is moving back to the box she had pulled them out of, Gilbert rushing to the window and seeing the timeline of his marriage laid out on the ground. “You can go and tell the world about how you get to have this entire flat to yourself. How you will see your daughter every few months when she is done with school in Canada. Go on and tell them how  _ awesome _ it is to sit here and think about everything you have lost because you couldn’t keep one damn promise!”     
  
  
 The Canadian tosses more photos across the floor of their room, photos of Julchen learning to skate or the first hockey game they ever went to as a family. Gilbert’s eyes widen as he sees photos he had forgotten about, the times he had been so incredibly happy....where did that man go? “And when your followers start to ask about your wife and how she reacted, will you tell them the truth?” He kneels down and gently picks up a picture of their Wedding where he was laughing and looking away from his bride, but she was looking at him with an always adoring expression.“You go on and tell them about the wife you put through so much pain and embarrassment all for...what? Clearing your name from something that might not have ever come up? Why did you care so much about how they all view you when this was something they should have never known about? This could have been settled quietly...you could have come to me, Gilbert.”    
  
  
He looks up to the woman in the doorway of the bedroom, the full luggage at her feet and a bag over her shoulder. Tears in his eyes as he holds the photographs in shaking hands. “Please, Madeline. Don’t leave...I will make this work out where we can all be back to normal The three of us together again. I will do whatever it takes...” She gives him a sad look, not pity but actual pain in seeing him groveling on his knees. “Just like how you tried to fix your affair?” The brutal words cut deeply into the man, making his shoulder sag in defeat.  
  
  
   “Your readers have no right to my emotions and my words, they will not get to see just how you shattered my heart. You can’t write your way out of this. Julchen is coming with me....Papa is taking us back to France and then we will be in Toronto. If you find the man I love and the Jules’ Vati...he can come for us there. Good bye, Gilbert.” She turns and walks out to the car her daughter is waiting in, the frenchman in the driver’s seat not speaking as they drive off. Anything Gilbert would have said is trapped in his throat, watching her leave through the door and when it closes it is a sound that would be more like the blade of a guillotine on the block. “Don’t...” Is all he can weakly whisper before the man breaks down in tears.

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the Song First Burn and an RP I used to be dedicated to.
> 
> Thank you for reading *bows*


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